Telltale Signs

"Little Aunt... as long as I get through this hurdle and become a true Martial Artist, I'll definitely honor you and Uncle properly from now on! I swear it!"

Chen Hao raised a hand to the heavens, the oath spilling from his mouth without pause.

"His little aunt..."

Seeing this, his mother, Madam Wang, immediately stepped forward and grabbed Chen Yan's arm.

"Just look at how hardworking and how pitiful this child is, and give him one more hand! He's already at the final kick before the gate—can you, his own aunt, bear to watch all his previous efforts go to waste?"

Madam Wang shot Chen Hao a look, telling him to come over and grab Chen Yan's other hand.

"His aunt, A-Hao knows how to repay kindness. Once he makes something of himself, could he ever forget your goodness?"

Caught between the mother and son, one on either side, Chen Yan's expression changed again and again.

"...Enough, enough, stop talking!"

She shook Madam Wang's hand away, her tone both irritated and helpless.

"This time, I can give at most another three taels... I truly don't have any more. Otherwise, Old Zhao will definitely fly into a rage..."

"Thank you, Little Aunt! Little Aunt loves me most!"

The gloom on Chen Hao's face instantly gave way to sunshine, and he grinned so broadly his eyes vanished.

He immediately turned to the other side.

"Third Uncle, a bottle of Blood Refining Powder costs five taels of silver. There are only two taels left to make up—do you think you could... just help your nephew cover the rest?"

"A-Hao... Third Uncle has let you down... This time, I truly, truly can't help..."

Chen An looked deeply embarrassed and lowered his head even further. His rough hands unconsciously clenched the patch-covered legs of his trousers.

"Oh, Third Brother! That's a guilty thing to say!"

Madam Wang clapped her hands and cried out indignantly.

"When I went to your house to call you just now, I saw it clear as day! Your family was obviously cooking coarse rice porridge, with fish and shrimp floating in it!"

"You have money to buy rice and meat for your own little feast, but when your own nephew needs just two taels of silver to break through a hurdle and save his life, you, his own uncle, have the nerve to cry poverty?"

She pressed forward two steps, her spittle spraying Chen An's face.

"A-Hao is the only hope right before the eyes of your old Chen family! The sole seedling who can bring glory to your ancestors! If you won't help him, how can you face the Chen family's ancestors? How can you face the old father who gave birth to you and raised you?"

"...I... this."

Chen An was not much of a talker to begin with. Faced with Madam Wang's barrage of words, he had no power to parry.

Seeing her man driven pale and trembling all over, Madam Bai could no longer hold back the grievance in her heart.

"Eldest Sister-in-law! That little bit of coarse rice and fish and shrimp in our home... Chen Cheng saw that the two of us were nearly starving to death... so he pinched it out from between the teeth of him and his mother and sent it over to us overnight!"

Madam Bai sprang to her feet, her eyes rimmed red as she spoke through tears.

"If Chen Cheng hadn't helped us, the two of us probably wouldn't even have had a mouthful of bran soup these past few days! If I have spoken even half a lie, then may my heart rot and my lungs fester, and may I be unworthy of being human!"

The courtyard instantly fell into dead silence.

Old Chen lay in his chair, his face dark as a knot of elmwood.

Chen Hao and Madam Wang both wore expressions of utter shock.

After a long while.

Chen Yan, who had not spoken all this time, slowly asked, "Chen Cheng... how is he doing now?"

"Chen Cheng is doing very well!"

Madam Bai straightened her back a little, and her voice steadied.

"He refined One-Incense Blood Qi long ago. He has been a Martial Artist for quite some time already!"

"That's impossible!"

Chen Hao cried out as if someone had stepped on his tail.

The gazes of the others all turned toward Chen An at once, knowing that Chen An would not lie.

"It's true..."

Chen An nodded, his face solemn.

"The night Chen Cheng brought things to our home, he even specifically spoke to the Black Wolf Gang steward in that area. From now on, our family... no longer has to pay the Peace Tax."

"...What!?"

At once, the courtyard was left with only the heavy breathing of several people.

Ever since they had begun supporting Chen Hao's martial training, the family had gradually learned of that unwritten rule of the martial world: the relatives of Martial Artists could be exempted from the Peace Tax.

Old Chen, Chen Yong's family, Chen An's family, and Chen Yan's family all longed for that day to arrive sooner.

Yet what they never could have imagined was that Chen Hao, whom they had supported with every ounce of their strength, had failed to become a Martial Artist for so long.

Instead, Chen Cheng, who had never cost them a single copper coin, had achieved it first.

Chen Hao and Madam Wang's faces alternated between red and white, burning hot as though several slaps had repeatedly struck them across the face.

Old Chen shot to his feet, his lips trembling. He wanted to say something, yet could not squeeze out a single word.

Chen Yan knitted her brows tightly. The regret in her heart was like fermented sour water, endlessly bubbling up no matter how she tried to suppress it.

Her husband was a butcher, and their circumstances were far, far better than those utterly destitute households at the bottom.

But when the time came each month to pay the Peace Tax, did he not still have to bow and scrape before those gang lackeys, playing the obedient grandson? And the amount they had to pay was even greater than what the poor paid!

Added to that were the government's levies and taxes under every conceivable name, as well as Chen Hao's endless demands over the past half year... her family's life had visibly worsened day by day.

If they could be like Chen An's family and be exempted from that monthly Peace Tax that scraped bone and carved flesh, how much easier would things be?

She had once pinned all her hopes on Chen Hao, with his fine innate frame, becoming useful sooner rather than later. Not only would that exempt them from the Peace Tax, but ideally he could also earn the title of Martial Guard and help her family escape commercial taxes, land taxes, military service, and corvée labor altogether.

But what had come of it...

Her family's silver had flowed onto Chen Hao like running water, without so much as a sound in return.

Meanwhile, Chen Cheng—the one who had seemed like a block of wood since childhood and had never entered her eyes—had quietly become a Martial Artist.

Had she known it would turn out like this, even if she had casually let a little slip through her fingers back then to warm Chen Cheng's cold stove, it would have been better than throwing everything onto Chen Hao!

Only now had she come to her senses... could that child still have room in his heart for such a snobbish little aunt as her?

"That's not right!"

After holding it in for a long time, Chen Hao finally squeezed out two words through clenched teeth. After pausing, he continued.

"In martial training, innate frame comes first, resources second. Even if you talk until the sky breaks, that remains the truth! Chen Cheng's build, Chen Cheng's family circumstances—do I need to say more?"

"In my view, he must have taken a crooked path! He used some shady, wicked method that cannot see the light of day!"

Chen Hao's gaze swept over everyone, as though searching for agreement.

"Recently, rumors have been spreading throughout the martial training circles that Red Moon Nunnery has a method to let people rapidly condense Blood Qi."

"Our master at White Ape Hall has repeatedly ordered that disciples are strictly forbidden from asking about it. We aren't even allowed to discuss it in private! Because that method is far too sinister; it may well become the root of disaster in the future!"

As those words fell, everyone's expressions suddenly changed once more.

Chen Hao keenly sensed the tide turning back in his favor. He raised his voice, carrying an air of ironclad certainty.

"Refining Blood Qi is nothing. Only by entering the Middle Academy of Dragon Mountain Hall can one be considered truly capable!"

"Just wait and see! If Chen Cheng really used some wicked method, the master in charge at Longshan Middle Academy will naturally step in and deal with him!"

Chen Hao sneered and glanced toward the corner by the wall.

"Third Uncle, Third Aunt, take my advice: stay far away from Chen Cheng in the future! Don't let him drag you down, only for you to still foolishly sing his praises!"